All infrastructures we build, like the monasteries in the Middle Ages, should seek to keep alive the intellectual and artistic traditions that make a civil society, humanism and the common good possible. Access to parcels of agricultural land will be paramount. We will have to grasp, as the medieval monks did, that we cannot alter the larger culture around us, at least in the short term, but we may be able to retain the moral codes and culture for generations beyond ours. Resistance will be reduced to small, often imperceptible acts of defiance, as those who retained their integrity discovered in the long night of 20th-century fascism and communism. Full article.
NY Times Reporter Confirms Obama Made Deal to Kill Public Option
obama never supported the public option – in fact, it was squashed by the white house.
Even while Obama was saying that he thought a public option was a good idea, he had promised for-profit hospital lobbyists that there would be no public option in the final bill. Full article.
a gem from hafiz
Your love
Should never be offered to the mouth of a
Stranger,
Only to someone
Who has the valor and daring
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife
Then weave them into a blanket
To protect you.
Hafiz
happy st patty’s day!
zakir hussain and his masters of percussion
saw zakir hussain perform last night at the center for the arts, university at buffalo. yes, zakir hussain – simply the greatest tabla player to ever walk the earth.
WOW is all i can say. thick mop of curly hair, beaming smile, charismatic presence and absolutely insane tabla skills. flying fingers, thumping hands, sliding wrists – it was all a blur. the man has to be watched in slow motion to try and wrap one’s mind around the speed and precision with which he plays the tabla. after watching his solo, my husband and i were in full agreement: zakir hussain is not human. no one can highlight the tabla’s versatility and expressiveness, its ability to be a lead instrument, more than him.
masters of percussion was a powerful blend of melodic (raga) and rhythmic (tala), hindustani and carnatic, traditional and contemporary, classical and folk. the show started with an explanation (and demonstration) of how the human breath is the most basic beat. later hussain explained how indian classical music is a language and can be used to illustrate the most spiritual or pedestrian of stories: planets orbiting at different speeds around the sun, krishna gtting an earful from radha for coming home late (krishna is a busy god), the structure, paraphernalia and final boom of a cannon (not the one in western classical music, the ugly one). hussain’s brother taufiq qureshi plays a variety of percussion instruments and did a fantastic rendition of a train speeding up, passing another train going in the opposite direction, chugging along over a bridge and finally reaching its destination.
the ensemble included violinists ganesh and kumaresh, sabir khan on the sarangi, sridhar parthasarathy on the mridangam, navin sharma on the dholak and the motilal dhakis from bengal. loved the interplay between the different musicians and their instruments. the motilal dhakis reminded me of pakistani weddings where the bridegroom’s family comes prancing around to that same beat. amazing show, amazing energy, amazing talent.
can’t help being soppy – it was deeply satisfying to see an ensemble that was half muslim/half hindu make such beautiful music together. i felt lucky to belong to the indian subcontinent.
Sunsara Taylor on pornography and the military
v interesting analysis.
Robert Fisk on Afghanistan
the situation in pakistan is complicated but if u want some basic understanding of the underlying issues, here’s an interview with robert fisk.
Action for a Progressive Pakistan’s Statement on the War in Afghanistan and Pakistan
a clear-cut, well-articulated statement on the war in afghanistan and pakistan by action for a progressive pakistan. read full statement here.
THE MOMENT by Margaret Atwood
THE MOMENT
by Margaret Atwood
The moment when, after many years
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,
is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can’t breathe.
No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.
La La La Human Steps: Exaucé/Salt
la la la human steps – dance like u’ve never seen before: Exaucé / Salt is a multimedia performance employing live music, film, video and dramatic lighting and decor to convey the emotional and dramatic dimensions of the choreography. The multidimensionality of Édouard Lock’s imagination draws the spectator into a performance world where sweat and muscle interact with the ephemeral.
“This precisely drawn piece, with its total concentration on pointe dance, sustains a remarkable tension. Shorter dance sequences build a chain of movement that evolves to a poetic river, aided by live music for cello, piano and electric guitar (courtesy of David Lang and Kevin Shields). Projected on the back wall of the stage, images by Lock himself lend this otherwise abstract piece a touch of warmth.”
Texas Conservatives Win Vote on Textbook Standards
a bunch of texans decide ur kids’ school curriculum. they’re not educators, they’re dentists and lawyers, and they want to correct the “liberal bias in academia.” how come no one even talks about this?
The board, whose members are elected, has influence beyond Texas because the state is one of the largest buyers of textbooks. Since January, Republicans on the board have passed more than 100 amendments to the 120-page curriculum standards affecting history, sociology and economics courses from elementary to high school. “We are adding balance,” said the leader of the conservative faction on the board, after the vote. “Academia is skewed too far to the left.” Full article.
Pearl Jam – Just Breathe (Live At Austin City Limits)
love this…
Israeli settlement action ‘an insult’: Obama aide
Israel’s announcement of plans to build 1,600 settler homes in east Jerusalem was not only an “insult” to the United States but “destructive” of the Middle East peace process, a top White House official said Sunday. “We have just started proximity talks, that is shuttle diplomacy, between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and for this announcement to come at that time was very destructive.” Full article.
Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven
Edward Said on “empire”
Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires. (Edward W. Said)